Temporary shelter provides for homeless

Evangelina Vasquez read the instructions on a box of hair dye. Now that she’s in a temporary shelter, she wants to improve her appearance. Sheila Manriquez (back) sat on her bed.
— Peggy Peattie / Union-Tribune

Evangelina Vasquez read the instructions on a box of hair dye. Now that she’s in a temporary shelter, she wants to improve her appearance. Sheila Manriquez (back) sat on her bed.
— Peggy Peattie / Union-Tribune

Deborah Yarling dragged her cart with her possessions through the Winter Shelter for the Homeless yesterday morning, looking for her bed. Yarling and her husband are both staying at the shelter. They have a service dog, but the city won’t allow them to keep it in the shelter. Yarling fears that if they can’t afford a kennel, they will end up back on the street so they can keep their dog.Peggy Peattie / Union-Tribune

Deborah Yarling dragged her cart with her possessions through the Winter Shelter for the Homeless yesterday morning, looking for her bed. Yarling and her husband are both staying at the shelter. They have a service dog, but the city won’t allow them to keep it in the shelter. Yarling fears that if they can’t afford a kennel, they will end up back on the street so they can keep their dog.

Bob McElroy, president of the Alpha Project for the Homeless, walked through the group of people waiting outside the Winter Shelter for the Homeless in downtown San Diego yesterday morning. Peggy Peattie / Union-Tribune

DOWNTOWN SAN DIEGO  They swelled to an unhealthy multitude long before the gate rolled open at 8 a.m. At the appointed hour, hundreds of homeless men and women began signing into the winter shelter, some in wheelchairs, others using canes.

After months of political wrangling over where it should open, the city’s temporary shelter welcomed 220 clients yesterday, offering them a warm bed, food and medical attention, for the time being anyway.

“I slept outside the very front gate to get ready for the morning,” said Evangelina Vasquez, 54, a Seattle transplant grateful to be assigned bunk No. 002. “I only had one blanket, and it was very cold.”

Volunteers and organizers worked overtime to open the shelter before Thanksgiving. Under its contract with the city, Alpha Project didn’t have to open until next week, but the nonprofit didn’t want to wait.

“It’s very busy, but very rewarding,” said Karen Pucci, who is directing shelter operations for Alpha Project. “We worked over the weekend and stayed here late (Tuesday) night putting up the bunks.”

Clients were preregistered Monday and Tuesday to help make the opening smoother. Men and women enrolling in the program were greeted by nurses and volunteers helping with medical screenings.

“A lot of these patients have a psychological component; they’ve run out of medicine or they’re noncompliant” about taking medication, said Mandy Williams, an emergency-room nurse at Sharp Coronado Hospital who was helping with the intake. “What we’re looking for are red flags.”

Inside the cavernous tent, erected on a vacant lot at 16th Street and Island Avenue for the second year in a row, individually numbered beds were stacked end to end.

Olive-green pillows and bright red blankets and quilts donated by a local hotel gave the bunks a festive appearance. Small bags filled with a rolled blanket, shampoo, lotion and other amenities hung from each bedpost.

At the east end of the shelter, where the 54 women enrolled in the program will sleep, organizers handed out fresh fruit, juice and doughnuts. Across the way, two dozen wooden chairs were aligned in front of a coffee station and widescreen television.

Alpha Project expects to serve up to 1,000 people over the four months the shelter will be open. Many residents will be steered into transitional housing programs, freeing up bunk space later this season. The city is spending $433,000 on the shelter and Alpha Project is adding at least $150,000 of its own money.

On the other side of Island Avenue, Michael Jordan, 52, watched as the line slowly dwindled.

“I don’t know if I should stand over here or over there; it’s confusing,” said Jordan, who used to work at an art gallery but lost his job due to mental illness. “All I know is I need to get in.”

Jordan tried to preregister, but there were no slots left for single men by the time he turned up. As a result, he was unlikely to get a shelter bed last night. The shelter falls well short of accommodating the 7,600 people estimated to be homeless in San Diego County.

“It’s sad that we only have 220 beds,” Pucci said. “I wish we could have everybody here.”